Vertical Temperature Profiles at Maximum Entropy Production with a Net Exchange Radiative Formulation*

Abstract

Abstract Like any fluid heated from below, the atmosphere is subject to vertical instability that triggers convection. Convection occurs on small time and space scales, which makes it a challenging feature to include in climate models. Usually subgrid parameterizations are required. Here, an alternative view based on a global thermodynamic variational principle is developed. Convective flux profiles and temperature profiles at steady state are computed in an implicit way by maximizing the associated entropy production rate. Two settings are examined, corresponding respectively to an idealized case of a gray atmosphere and a realistic case based on a net exchange formulation radiative scheme. In the second case, the effect of variations of the atmospheric composition, such as a doubling of the carbon dioxide concentration, is also discussed.